You Missed Breakfast
by TennMayhem
Summary: (Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons story) Everyone awakes in the middle of the night to Rapunzel's scream. They all believe it was only a nightmare. Well, except Jack. The others notice when he misses breakfast, and after reassuring him everything's okay, they leave the castle, only to find that hell will soon ensue.
1. Introduction

Jack's eyes flared open at the sound of a scream.

He reached for his staff, resting against his bedside table. Rushing out the door, he ran to its source. Turning a corner, something large and red smacked into his face. He heard a groan, "Ow…" and found it to be none other than Merida he'd bumped into.

"Sorry, I was going to see Rapunzel. I heard her scream," he noted. Merida nodded and informed him she was doing to same. Together they made their way down a few hallways until they gently pushed opened the lavender colored door to their friend's room. There she sat on her bed clutching a pillow, breathing deeply and rapidly. Jack flew over to her, as it would be faster than walking. He sat in front of her on the edge of the quilt. Merida followed close behind and stood by Jack. He asked cautiously, "Are you okay?"

Rapunzel took a minute, but eventually nodded her head yes. "I just had a nightmare." Jack's eyes widened and he felt speechless.

Merida didn't notice and answered instead of him in her thick accent, "Oh, well you'll be fine, then. Maybe read a little before you go back to sleep. You like reading." Rapunzel nodded, still clinging to the green pillow. Her hair lay strewn among her bedsheets, likely from tossing and turning in her sleep.

Jack spoke just as Hiccup leaned into the doorway, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He spoke in shock at first, then his voice turned to panic, "A- a nightmare…? Rapunzel," he gripped her sheets and his staff. "Did you see anyone in your room when you woke up from your nightmare? Anyone at all- even a weird shadow?" Rapunzel looked scared while Hiccup –who now stood next to their fiery redhead- and Merida looked at him like he'd just ran around naked screaming.

Rapunzel sniffled and shook her head, "I don't think so…" Jack sighed in relief and let go of the blanket. However, Merida and Hiccup still stared at him.

"What was _that _all about?" Merida asked after they'd left Rapunzel's room so she could go back to sleep. Jack just shook his head and muttered under his breath and flew off to his room. She turned to Hiccup. "Do you have any idea?" He just shrugged and walked with her until he reached his room. They waved goodnight to one another and Merida went off to bed herself.


	2. Chapter 1

Rapunzel hummed to herself as she got dressed the following morning. After she had went back to sleep last night, she didn't have any more nightmares, so she still had gotten a fair amount of rest. Meanwhile, Merida remained in her nightgown and made her way down to the castle floor for breakfast with the others. Ever since the four of them had taken up residence in Merida's home, they had spent a lot of time together. When the girls arrived at the dining table, Hiccup and her father were talking, her brothers were arguing, and her mother was working on some letters from the kingdom. However, they did not see Jack around the large oak table. At first they presumed he was just late and proceeded to join the others for the morning meal. Soon, though, Rapunzel had finished breakfast and Merida and Hiccup were finishing their drinks in a chugging contest with her dad. Hiccup won, by the way. The three of them gathered in the back of the dining hall as Merida's family trickled out the door.

"Where's Jack?" Hiccup asked curiously. They hadn't seen him even in the halls today.

Rapunzel held her own small hand and suggested, "Maybe we should see if he's still asleep?" Merida shrugged and Hiccup just followed the ladies upstairs towards Jack's bedroom. Rapunzel rapped on the door so lightly it was like the pitter-patter of scurrying mice. Slowly they turned the handle and went inside.

The walls were painted dazzlingly with the pattern of a wintery-forest, like the one from Burgess, his home town, while black stained pine made up the floor. His small bed sat in the far corner by a window that overlooked the nearby woodlands. The room was around ten degrees colder than the rest of the castle, but only because the cold always followed Jack. They saw him sitting in the window sill with the glass pane pushed out to let in a breeze. His blue hood was pulled up over his white hair and he had his knees tucked near his chest. Rapunzel spoke first. "Jack, you missed breakfast…" she said nervously.

He did not turn around to her but said quietly, "Not hungry." Hiccup walked over to the window and put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. Merida stood behind him, her face scrunched up with concern while Hiccup's eye narrowed with interest.

Jack finally turned his head to them, causing his hood to slip off his head, and replied with a half smile, "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just have a lot on my mind. That's all. You guys wanna go out to see Jamie today?" He tried to change the subject.

Merida inquired, ignoring his offer, "Is this about last night?" Jack's smile faded and he sighed.

"I'm just jumpy, that's all. I told you guys about what Pitch did to Sandy's dreamsand last year." He turned his head away as the subject of Pitch Black came up.

Rapunzel rested her hand on his other shoulder, turned his head towards her, and assured him, "I only had a nightmare, okay? I'm fine." She smiled at him. His frosty blue eyes searched her face for uncertainty, but only found compassion. He nodded to her.

"Okay…" he then turned around to the others and pushed his staff back and forth between his hands. "So, anyways, what're we up to today?" He grinned. The others smiled. This was better. Jack wasn't paranoid anymore and seemed to look forward to today.

Merida gestured excitedly for them to follow her and they exited the castle. She led them to the stables where Angus and Maximus waited for their crazy-haired riders. Then, of course, there was Toothless. He had a fairly large covered area for him to stay in when Hiccup was at the castle. The three riders took their seats on the saddles while Jack hovered in the air, waiting for them. Merida and Angus bolted out of the stable and rushed into the forest with her calling after them. Rapunzel leaned onto Max's neck and they followed swiftly, meanwhile Toothless and Hiccup took to the sky. Jack decided to give them a thirty second head start.

Merida laughed in joy as the wind ran through her hair, tangling the frizzy curls more than ever. Rapunzel urged Max on forward and she started to gain a lead on Merida, when suddenly a roar ahead of them made the girls look up to see Hiccup waving at them before gaining first place. Merida grunted and they continued on. Jack continued counting seconds to himself, "Twenty four, twenty five, twenty six…" until time was up. He grinned as he darted into the sky, the wind carrying his feather-light body past the girls almost instantly and he sailed alongside the black Night Fury shouting at Hiccup, "Good luck, see you at the waterfall!" He laughed and corkscrewed ahead of all the racers, whooping to the sky. Rapunzel heard his shouts and insisted Maximus run faster. Soon, she started to gain a lead on Hiccup as well. Before he knew it, Jack landed at the base of the cliff's waterfall only to see a panting Maximus and a relieved Rapunzel waiting for him. She heard frost forming in the crevices of the rock and looked over at him, grinning.

"I WON!" she yelled, then giggled with pride. As she shouted, Toothless landed and Angus clopped onto the sandstone. Merida looked defeated, but that she had enjoyed herself, while Hiccup beamed from ear to ear.

Jack smiled at Rapunzel and how happy she was. Obviously, her nightmare had not affected her the way he'd been so scared it would have. He took a deep breath of liberation, feeling as though he hadn't had any since she'd woken up last evening. It truly was only a nightmare.

They all laughed at how messy Merida's hair looked, and then all stood before the waterfall. "I want to show you all something," she said, her accent uneffecting the sound of marvel in her tone. Hiccup looked confused, while Rapunzel looked excited. Jack raised and eyes brow at her and smirked as she began climbing the tall stone pillar jutting from the earth. Merida looked down at them after reaching about ten feet from the ground. "Well, what are you waiting fer? Come on!" she exclaimed and continued up.

Jack walked up the side of the rock, really more so flying than walking, while Hiccup helped Rapunzel get her footing before following her up as well. Merida helped the two up onto the flat surface while Jack sat on the crook of his staff. The three of them stood in front of him, staring before them. They were speechless. _It's beautiful,_ Rapunzel thought to herself. The four gazed over a beautiful forest filled valley with a sparkling turquoise river snaking through it. "Thank you, Merida," Rapunzel said after a few quiet moments. The redhead smiled at her friends around her and prayed that this would never have to end.

Knock on wood.


	3. Chapter 2

Hiccup lifted his arms high as Toothless sliced through the wind in the sky. This surely must be the best part of befriending the dragon. He took in the deep scent of the clouds as the cool air burned his lungs. It made him feel so incredibly alive.

"You and the lizard look like you're having fun!"

Until Jack would show up. Hiccup scowled at him and retaliated, "He's a DRAGON, okay?!"

"Yeah, yeah, you've said that like, a million times."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and looked back to Toothless. "You're not a lizard, buddy. You're my best friend." Toothless grunted in response and dive bombed towards the river. "WHOA, WHOA SLOW DOWN," Hiccup yelled in surprise. Finally, Toothless pulled up and they glided inches above the surface of the gleaming river. Suddenly, something cold hit Hiccup in the face and he nearly fell off into the river. "JACK!" he yelled angrily. Jack was lying on his staff like it was a lounge chair as he flew alongside them, bouncing another snowball in his left hand.

"What?" he asked innocently, twirling the snowball on his finger. Hiccup only grunted and swerved right. "Nice try!" He got pelted with another snowball. Toothless turned his head towards Jack and spit a burst of fire at him.

Jack shouted nervously and lunged into the river, barely avoiding being baked alive. He flew back up and yelled at Hiccup, "That wasn't funny!" Meanwhile Hiccup was tearing up with amusement. Jack glowered at him until he heard his name being called. He stopped and looked around to see a blotch of rusty red amongst the trees waving him down. "Hiccup, Merida's calling for us." Hiccup nodded and he pivoted Toothless, trailing behind Jack to the riverside.

"Yes, my lady?" Jack said, bowing mockingly. Merida rolled her eyes and Hiccup approached them.

"Have either of you seen Punzie?" she asked, getting to the point. Jack and Hiccup looked at each other, confused and shook their heads.

"No, why?" asked the Viking boy.

"I can't find her. I've been calling and chasing you both for at least five minutes now," she said irritably.

Jack would have blushed, but the paleness of his skin never changed. Hiccup bit his lip then probed, "Where did you last see her?" Merida asked them to follow her and she led them to the edge of a clearing.

"I didn't want to go in there, something felt off, but Rapunzel must have and I didn't know until I looked behind me and she wasn't there and I'm worried sick and I don't know what to do so I-" Jack put his finger to her lips.

"It's okay, we understand. You said she went in here?" he gestured to a gap between two trunks of an aspen tree with his staff. Merida nodded and he looked through it for a moment before stepping over the split of the trunks with his bare feet and entering the circle. He looked around, his staff at the ready. "Rapunzel?" he called out. No response. A shadow twitched in the corner of his peripheral vision. He instinctively blasted wind and ice crystals towards it. The shadow was gone. "Where are you?" he bellowed. A dark chortle responded. He gasped, turning in circles, trying to locate the source of the sick sound. Hiccup ran into the clearing with his shield and a battle axe, abruptly, and stood at Jack's back.

"You're not alone, Jack," Hiccup assured. Then he shouted to the unknown antagonist, "Show yourself, you coward!" There it was again, that awful laugh.

"If you insist."

Suddenly, Jack realized. "GET DOWN!" he yelled and tackled Hiccup as a dagger of inky sand grains buzzed over their heads. They turned to its sender and raised their weapons. "Pitch, where is Rapunzel?!" he demanded, his eyes blazing their icy blue color.

"Why she's back home, of course. Where else would she be?" Pitch grinned at them, his pointed teeth gleaming, his golden eyes sparkling. He faded into the shadows of the foliage around them. Hiccup stared on, more confused than ever.

Jack gasped in shock then shot off the ground and back to the castle. Merida entered the clearing and asked Hiccup, "What just happened? I couldn't hear with Toothless trying to follow you in here!" Hiccup relayed the situation to her as they watched Jack disappear over the canopy. "Well we have to follow him!" She barked and they took off towards the river. There, Toothless waited for Hiccup with Angus. The two boarded the animals' saddles and raced through the forest back home.

Jack peered in through Rapunzel's bedroom window and saw her, sprawled on the floor. He tried to open the window, but it was locked, so he bashed it in with his staff. He flew to her side. She seemed to be asleep at the moment. However, her face was pulled into a pained expression. The winter spirit shook her shoulders. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel!" He said to her, trying to wake her. He didn't notice Merida and Hiccup watching him from Rapunzel's bedroom door, their faces spoiled with worry and fear. He slid his arms under her and picked her up slowly. "Please just be asleep, please just be asleep," he muttered to himself. He laid her on her soft quilt and backed away, but refused to look away in fear.

He pulled up the green chair from her vanity and sat in it, watching over her, when he heard the sputter of another chair skidding over the tile flooring. He glanced over for just a quick moment, not wanting to look away from Rapunzel, and saw Merida dragging a chair from a nearby cook's room while Hiccup carried one similar to Merida's with him. They sat their chairs on either side of his and put their hands over his. Hiccup looked at him with worry and asked, "Is this why you were nervous this morning?" Jack looked back to Rapunzel and sighed.

"Yeah, it was… but I was too late. I- I shouldn't have just shrugged it off, I should have known something would happened, this is entirely my fault!" he rushed through the words, eager to get them off his chest. Merida and Hiccup did not reply, they only watched with their friend so that they could protect her from harm. Night had already fallen hours later and Hiccup was asleep. Merida yawned for the third time so far but Jack felt wide awake. He remembered what Pitch had done to those children with the nightmares. Now his friend was experiencing it. He hugged his knees and walked over to the window just as Merida finally nodded off. He gazed up at the full moon in the cloudless sky. "Please, don't… don't let this happen. You… I think you owe me that at the very least." And yet, as always, Man in Moon simply stared back at him, silent as the stars around him. Jack heard Rapunzel groan and tuned around. She'd rolled onto her side and her brow was furrowed. Pitch's laugh echoed throughout the room and its vaulted ceiling. Jack's mouth fell agape and he tried to find the Nightmare King.

"Oh look, they're all fast asleep. I wonder if the others can handle nightmares so well like your friend Punzie, here."

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER THAT!" Jack shrieked, furious at Pitch's attempt to meddle with his friends' minds. Pitch tapped his shoulder and he reeled around to face him.

"Now, Jack, why don't you just relax? I'm only having a little bit of fun."

"Then you have a sick sense of the word fun," he shot back. He couldn't see his friends from where he was standing, but Jack didn't notice that. Pitch grinned at him.

"You don't know the half of it, Jack." He raised his arms and suddenly a fearling race at him, striking his gut and flinging him against the wall. He could feel the detached pain one has when they're first bruised. He grunted, but held his staff firmly and began freezing fearlings circling him, blocking his vision.

Pitch cackled and turned to Merida and Hiccup, amazingly still asleep. The dark sand swirled above their slack faces, contorting them. Merida squirmed in her chair and Hiccup balled his hands into fists. Pitch smiled cruelly and marveled at the nightmare floating over Hiccups head. A dragon lay strapped to a ship, but the ship was sinking in the ocean. The boy tried swimming down to the beast, but no matter how deep he swam, he could not reach the Night Fury. He watched it struggle and gasp for breath, only inhaling gallons of seawater into its large lungs. Pitch sighed, breathing in the smell of fear. It was like adrenaline for him. He thrived upon it. Merida screamed from her nightmare as Rapunzel's began to reform.

"Stop!" Jack screamed as every fearling around him crashed to the floor as shattered ice statuettes. Pitch looked at him in surprise, but his grin did not dwindle. Jack felt uneasy and weak after using so much power so quickly, but he stood straight, seizing his staff steadfastly, and stared Pitch down. "Get out of here." His voice shook, but his tone was like switchblades through the air. Pitch's smile faded. Without a word, he collapsed into the shadow of the chair in the moonlight and was gone. Jack fell to the floor, scared, weak, and angry, until he herd Hiccup complaining and remembered he had to wake up his friends. He rushed over to Merida and blew snowflakes into her face, as well as Hiccup's. They jolted upright almost silently and saw the look on his face.

He turned to Rapunzel. Could he, now? Why not, he figured. He blew one last breath of snowflakes into Rapunzel's face and crouched in front of her, hope lighting up his face. Nothing happened. His face fell and darkened with disappointment. He turned away, glaring at Man in Moon in distress. Suddenly, though, he heard a high pitched woman's voice behind him.

"What happened?"


	4. Chapter 3

Merida laughed as her, Hiccup, and Jack held Rapunzel in a snug embrace. She was awake from Pitch's curse and they were safe now, thanks to Jack, albeit their nightmares were still fresh in their memories. Finally, the four released each other and wormed a full explanation of what happened when they were asleep out of Jack, despite his hesitation. They were all tired still, especially Jack from his encounter with Pitch, but wanted to remain cautious, so they decided to take shifts that night.

"I'll take first watch," Jack said, stifling a yawn yet again.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "You're joking, right?"

"What? I can handle it," he said, this time, though, not able to smother his yawn, drawing out his vowels. Rapunzel and Merida giggled; he wasn't the spirit of fun and amusement for nothing.

"You've obviously already taken your turn, Jack. I'll go. Besides, I've got me bow with me, nothing will be going wrong this this baby around," Merida guaranteed him.

He sighed and nodded, "Oh, fine… Then who's gonna go?" Hiccup raised his hand. "Great. Two shifts down, two to go." He glanced at Rapunzel. "You want to get up early or go back to bed?"

Rapunzel just shrugged and said while gazing down at the sun emblem of her family, "I think you should just go to bed. I'll wake you up when it's your shift, okay?" She smiled up at him, but not before winking at the other two without Jack's notice. His shoulders sagged, his head started to bow, and his hand slipped down his staff a little before he snapped his head back up and nodded to her. "So… are we all sleeping in here tonight?" she asked.

"There's more beds in the servant's quarters if we don't want to all pile into yer bed," Merida supplied. They all nodded in agreement and made their way down to the castle's main floor. Jack floated down the stair well, too exhausted to walk, and he followed closely behind Hiccup and the girls.

The four filed into the room which was mostly empty right now as most of the servants were on leave. The first empty bed Jack saw he fell face first into, completely exhausted from the stress of the day and all the power he'd spent in the battle against the nightmares.

Merida whispered to Rapunzel while watching him, "How long you think 'ell be out fer?"

Rapunzel shrugged, "A while at least."

Without moving his head, Jack called out, "I'm still awake, you know!" The girls laughed to themselves before they bid each other and Hiccup goodnight.

"Goodnight, Jack," Hiccup whispered, receiving no response but the slow rise and fall of Frost's back.

Merida grinned at the others. "Oh he's out, alright." Hiccup rolled his eyes with a smirk and then rolled onto his side. While Rapunzel lay on her back humming herself to sleep. Other than Hiccup snoring, Merida's watch was uneventful, boring even. The moon dwelling high in the sky she saw her time was over. She tiptoed past Jack to Hiccup and shook his arm some before receiving the response, "Mmm five more minutes, dad…" and rolling onto his stomach. Merida rolled her eyes and flicked him on the back of his head.

"Ow, what was that for?" he whispered urgently.

"You wouldn't wake up. It's your turn for watch, Hiccup." He nodded and stretched out on his temporary bed. "I'll give you one or two minutes to wake up a little and then we'll switch out." He gave her a thumbs-up and they soon transitioned. Hiccup sat on a stool drawing Toothless and his friends together until he got bored. He looked outside and it was still only around an hour into his time.

He threw his head back. "Ugh, longest watch of my LIFE," he said to no one in particular. Jack rolled over onto his back, his jaw slack in sleep and his eyes rolled back. Hiccup grinned to himself. What better way to entertain himself than to capture this moment forever? He began to draw the straight lines and the wavy curves and finally added the shading to a very embarrassing drawing of Jack Frost. Hiccup pondered his work for a moment before he added a couple flies buzzing around Jack's mouth, just for effect. Whether they'd actually been there or not wasn't important. He gazed up at the sky again and saw the moon approaching the horizon. He walked over to the golden haired eighteen year old and tapped her face with his quill. "Punzie," he whispered. She opened her eyes just a fraction at him before sitting up.

"So, it's my turn now?" He nodded. "She looked over to Jack, whose breath was clearly visible now and asked Hiccup, "Do you think I should wake him up for watch later? I could take it for him."

Hiccup thought for a moment and suggested, "How about you wake me up when the sun just starts to rise? I can watch from there on. Besides, Toothless is an early dragon." Rapunzel thanked him and got up, making her way towards the same stool as Hiccup went to his own bed, the metal pieces of his false leg clanking together.

She occupied the entire time till sunrise with brushing and braiding her very, very long hair. She didn't notice the time until the brilliant blood orange color of the sun like Merida's hair flared in through the windows, staining the cream floor gold. She headed towards Hiccup' bed when she tripped over Jack's foot that poked out from the bed and landed on her chest. She coughed, having the wind knocked out of her. Jack sat up immediately and defensively, icy fern patterns tracing all around him until he gained focus. Rapunzel coughed again and he rushed to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I just tripped, Jack, I'm fine. Nothing's gone wrong, alright? Everything's okay," she comforted him. He let out a sigh of release and helped her up.

"So it's my turn for watch now?" he asked her.

She looked at him, her eyes wide. "Um… no, no. I was just… pacing, since it's my watch and I'm bored." He looked at her with suspicion, but it was soon replaced with scrunched up features as he stained to keep open his eyes. Rapunzel guided him back to where he was sleeping and encouraged him to lie down, convincing him after five minutes of persuasion. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes again, she could tell he was asleep once more. She woke Hiccup easily and reminded him of his promise before going to sleep herself.

It seemed that by the end of Hiccup's second watch, everything had gone smoothly and Pitch had not returned to attack them. Merida rose after the sun had been risen for about an hour and Rapunzel soon after. Jack, on the other hand, looked just as deeply asleep as when Rapunzel had put him down earlier that morning. His left hand clung to his staff while the right one was hanging over his eyes and probably had been so since the sun had come up. The three of them talked about their shifts to see if anyone missed anything, but everything had gone just fine. Well, except Jack making the room around thirty degrees colder when Punzie had tripped over his foot. They decided to let Jack sleep in a little while they went out to the dining room, which was on the floor above them, since they had stayed in the servant's room.

They picked out some of Jack's favorite things like cream-filled pastries and cold hard boiled eggs. It was quite an odd combination, but could you expect anything less from Jack? Afterwards they decided to go check on him. Heading back down the stairs, they spotted him sitting in the doorway of their temporary quarters. "Good morning, Jack!" they greeted him in unison, which was really kind of creepy. They handed him his bag for breakfast and he took it quietly.

He nodded to Hiccup, "So where's Toothy? I thought you'd be out with him by now.

"I figured it'd be _nice _to get you something to eat first, Jack." Hiccup turned and walked outside towards the covered stables. Jack rolled his eyes.

"He's sure got a temper sometimes, doesn't he?" Jack asked as before he popped an entire hard boiled egg into his mouth. "Gosh, these things are so good." He finally swallowed and looked at Rapunzel. "But why didn't you get me up for my shift this morning?"

Her mouth turned into that half smile of being caught in a lie and she explained, "Well, you did a lot for us yesterday so we thought you deserved some extra sleep." He smiled at the girls and thanked them. Then the three left for the stables. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad, they all prayed.


	5. Chapter 4

Merida laughed as she and Jack pushed an unsuspecting Rapunzel into the river. Hiccup turned around at the splash noise just in time to see white and red colors flaring in his face before falling into the shallow part river himself. Rapunzel laughed, while Hiccup scowled at them, until he ended up sniggering himself. Jack disappeared into the brush without warning, but his laughs could be heard echoing within the valley. Hiccup spotted him coasting over the surface of the river towards them, the crook of his staff trailing on the water, freezing it over.

"You'd better run!" he yelled with a laugh. Rapunzel screeched and gathered her locks of hair before darting out of the river. Hiccup had just pulled himself out in time for the ice to form around the ankle of his boot. Merida took his hands and helped pull his leg out from the now chilly water, shattering the ice around it. Jack whipped up to them, skating with his bare feet on the frozen water. "That was fun." He smirked at them.

Hiccup said sarcastically, "Oh yeah, I love being shoved in a river and frozen over." Jack rolled his eyes at him. Hiccup continued, "Not to mention you froze over my one _good_ leg." Jack's face fell.

"Hiccup, that wasn't necessary!" Rapunzel defended Jack.

Jack waved her off and agreed, "No, he's right. I screwed up." Shaking his head he leaned on his staff, watching the clouds roll in the sky. Suddenly an idea struck him and he turned back to his friends. "Hey Rapunzel, you don't know how to ice skate, do you?" She shook her head, confused. He grinned and strode out onto the river, it freezing over more strongly this time. He stood out near the center of the river, its deepest point. He gestured for Rapunzel, "Come on out!"

"I don't have any skates!" she argued.

"But you're wearing ballet slippers!" he countered. She laughed and followed him out onto the edge of the ice. He beamed at her and explained how to push off with one foot. He demonstrated, gliding farther on the river. Merida had already followed Rapunzel onto the ice and was excitedly trying to follow his example, though it seemed neither one was too great at it.

Hiccup stood next to Toothless, stroking his nose when something dark flowed under the ice. He stopped and peered forward. Was something under there? Eh, probably. It was a river, after all. He shrugged and turned back to his Night Fury when he heard a distant laugh and a loud crack. He spun around to see water splashing up from a hole in the ice, with Merida and Rapunzel reaching towards it in distress. "What happened?!" he said in panic.

"Jack fell in!" Merida exclaimed. She did sound afraid, but also a little amazed as well. Hiccup walked out on the ice as well as he could until he reached the hole. His eyes darted in every direction, searching for Jack's snow-white hair in the murky water. Finally, he spotted it. Taking a deep breath, he dove down into the gap in the direction of their friend. He grabbed the arm of a flailing Jack and did his best to move up to the surface. Jack wasn't helping, what with him breaking down at the submersion.

A dark slim shape appeared in front of Hiccup and he soon realized it was Toothless's tail. The dragon flicked it urgently and Hiccup grabbed on with one arm. The two rocketed out of the water and onto the sheet of ice. Hiccup took deep plentiful breaths for a moment before he remembered Jack. He got to his knees and saw him a few feet away with the ladies approaching fast. Jack was curled up to himself and he gripped his staff as if it was all that could keep him alive and coughing. Merida kneeled by him and moved his head onto her lap.

"Jack, are you okay?" He didn't respond to her, only held his staff to his face and shut his eyes tight. The three looked down on him in worry and sadness as they sat there on the ice for a moment or two. Hiccup grunted and looked from Rapunzel to Merida before picking Jack up awkwardly. It wasn't difficult, since he was, after all, light enough for the very wind to carry him. They girls followed silently behind him.

He laid Jack on Toothless's back and strapped him into the harness. He patted the dragon's head before he sent them home. He turned to Merida and Rapunzel. "Would one of you mind giving me a ride back?" They both nodded and he joined Rapunzel on Max's back. They followed the Night Fury his passenger back to the castle. When they arrived, Merida pulled a now dried Jack from the saddle and brought him inside. They walked with her up three flights of stairs to Jack's room and set him in his bed. They couldn't tell if he was unconscious or in shock, but they decided that place would be fitting either way. Rapunzel pulled his white sheet up over his cool body. When she let them settle his hand clenched the top of it, frost patterns beginning to emit along the covers from his fingertips. Merida sighed, her arms crossed. Why did this have to happen?

Hiccup spoke up finally, "What happened?"

"I don't know the ice just started to crack and he fell in. We didn't cause it and he sure didn't," she replied nervously. Abruptly, three small orange blobs came bursting into the room laughing and screaming. They jumped onto Merida, knocking her on the floor. "Hey!" she yelled after them as they ran away. "Get back here!" She chased out the door after them. Rapunzel thought she could help catch them so she followed. Hiccup leaned out the doorway, watching them. With the three distracted, no one noticed a dark shadow looming over Jack.

A thin, sharp stream of nightmare sand ran along the side of his forehead, cutting it open and then burrowed into the bleeding wound. Jack winced in his unconsciousness, the pain taking him. A quiet chuckle emitted from the shadow before it faded away. Jack tossed over and began groaning. Hiccup turned around, noticing the sounds. The crackle of forming ice piqued his interest and he approached hesitantly. As he neared, he realized the cut and that Jack had begun to mumble under his breath. He sounded afraid. Frost grew along the bed and the walls touching it. Hiccup, who was now beginning to panic, rushed back towards the doorway calling out, "Merida, Rapunzel!" They turned hastily to him when he had their attention. "Something's happened to Jack!" They gasped and dashed back to him. Just as they entered, Jack groaned more loudly in distress.

"Jack, Jack wake up," Merida urged, and then she spotted the red gleam of fresh blood from under his white hair. She wiped most of it off with her thumb, leaving a red smear behind. Rapunzel had kneeled on his bed next to him, just as troubled. Hiccup watched silently as he struggled inwardly with current circumstances. Merida's face changed to fury and she shouted, throwing her fist into the air, "I'm going to _kill_ those boys!" Rapunzel placed her hand on Merida's raised arm, encouraging her to relax and let it go. She sighed and submitted, lowering her fist.

Jack's grip on the bed sheet tightened and he said in his sleep, "Stop, stop, leave them alone!" Merida backed away in fear, his head sliding from her lap. Rapunzel gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Hiccup looked from Jack to the others then to the floor.

He said quietly, "It's Pitch Black, isn't it?"

Merida whispered back, "It must be." Rapunzel only nodded in agreement.

Hiccup looked back up to them with a sudden anger in his voice. "We have to stop him." A low grumble resonated around them as Pitch himself manifested by the door to Jack's room and he slammed it behind him.

"And you do you plan to do that? You're best friend is already in danger, and you're going to fight me instead of figure out how to save him," Pitch laughed. "Well what a great friend you are, little dragon whisperer." Merida raised her bow, an arrow loaded already. "Ah, ah, ah," he warned. A swirl of nightmare sand collected over the palm of his hand and he watched it gleefully. "I still have control of Jack's dreams. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him again, would you?" Merida hesitated, but sighed in defeat, lowering her bow.

"What do you want?" Rapunzel asked with her hands in fists as she stood by her friends. Pitch shrugged.

"I don't think that really matters, does it? I have power over you, and you can't do anything to stop me unless you sacrifice you're friend, Frost." He looked back to them. "What I want, however, is answers. Why do you all believe in the boy, why can you see him, what's so special now that wasn't before?"

Rapunzel spoke first. "I… I lived apart from the world for a really, really long time so I started to read. I read about Jack Frost in one of my favorite fairy tales, and since I had no idea what _was _and wasn't real, I believed in everything." Her voice trailed off.

"Go on, spit it out!" Pitch directed, reinforcing his command with a muffled shout from Jack in his nightmare.

Rapunzel rushed on. "I saw him one day when he was flying around and he was really surprised I saw him so he explained to me why, and I've known him ever since." Pitch sighed agitatedly and turned to Hiccup.

"And you?"

"I just sort of figured there had to be someone or something that made it snow so much in Berk, and I looked around one day after he assaulted me with a snowball and I saw him. There's not much to it, really," Hiccup replied tensely

Pitch growled under his breath then turned to Merida.

She wasted no time in saying, "Rapunzel made me believe. It took a long time but I saw him finally." Pitch threw his arms up in anger.

"That doesn't help me at all!" he turned away from them. "What good are you if you can't even answer a simple question right?" He thought to himself for a moment, only the rustle of sheets and heavy breathing from Jack's bed making sound. Pitch sighed and looked back over his shoulder at them. "Well at least I can have a little fun with you all." He cackled and fell into the shadows when Jack began screaming.

Hiccup ran to him and took in his condition. His eyes were clamped shut and his teeth ground against each other between shrieks. He turned to the girls. "Anything to wake him up, get it." They nodded silently and ran from the room throughout the castle. Hiccup grabbed the battle axe from the floor and stood by Jack, ready for battle. Rapunzel returned first with a pitcher of water, a metal spoon and her frying pan. Hiccup gestured her over and she started banging the spoon and pan together, hoping the annoying clashing sound would wake him up. Nothing happened. Merida returned during this time with her brothers. Hiccup saw them and shook his head frantically. Merida looked at him irritably and marched off, holding her string of brothers' hands.

"Let me try something," he said and put his hand on the crook of Jack's staff. Uncertainly, he wrapped his other one around it as well and tugged. Jack grunted angrily and Hiccup let go just as the staff froze over with the blue glow of Jack's chill. The spirit jerked it back to his chest. "Well that didn't work." Rapunzel only shrugged at him and lifted the pitcher undecidedly. Hiccup nodded and she dumped it on his head. Jack sat up instantly, sputtering and coughing, his now wet hair sticking to his face.

"What the hell?!" he demanded. Rapunzel and Merida, who'd just returned, squealed with delight and embraced him. Hiccup grinned and threw his arms around the three as well. Jack sat there awkwardly, having no idea what was happening or why everyone was so excited. After a moment, though, he regained his grip on reality and pulled away from the others, resting his staff on his left shoulder. "Pitch?" he asked curiously. Rapunzel, Merida, and Hiccup shared glances, but eventually nodded to him. "Is- is he still here?" he asked, both hands wrapped around his staff just below the crook.

"I don't think so," Rapunzel answered. He let out a deep sigh and asked what happened after he fell in the ice. Hiccup explained how they'd brought him here and how Pitch had used him and his nightmares as leverage against them. Jack cursed under his breath. "Jack, don't blame yourself," Rapunzel comforted as she reached out to him. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking up at the rest of them.

"He's not going to leave us alone until he gets what he wants. The problem is: we don't know what that is."


	6. Chapter 5

The four had a plan. Deciding that Pitch's despising of Jack was greater than of the others, Jack would be the bait. Tonight, Jack would go to sleep while the others acted preoccupied with other tasks. When Pitch would come to attack, they would attack and tie him up in Rapunzel's hair. They'd wake Jack as soon as the moment presented itself and interrogate Pitch. If he didn't cooperate, they'd kill him.

"So, until then, what do you want to do?" Hiccup asked curiously. Jack -whose head was now free of a bloody smear and scabbed along the nightmare sand cut- shrugged, playing with his staff between his toes aimlessly, Rapunzel bit her lip, not able to think of anything, and Merida folded her arms, thinking.

"We need to be ready for Pitch. We can train in the forest," Merida said fiercely. Jack grinned and stood up. Rapunzel smiled, holding a frying pan to her chest and Hiccup nodded. They group left into the valley, farther from the castle than normal so that they could be sure they wouldn't hurt anyone. Merida took an extra quiver of arrows with her as they headed into the gorge.

They met in a large clearing where Toothless and Hiccup landed. Hiccup tossed a fish to his dragon after unhooking himself from the saddle. Angus and Max grazed quietly in wait, unconcerned with whatever the teenagers were up to. Only then did they wonder how exactly they were all going to train at the same time.

"Jack could play pitcher for a while," Rapunzel suggested. She meant that he could chuck frozen snowballs everywhere as target practice for the others.

"Well then what am I gonna do to practice?" he countered inquisitively.

They all thought silently for a moment. "Oh, you could try out your whole ice-lightning bolt thing on the trees!" she suggested excitedly. Jack shrugged; it worked well enough for him.

"Jack, aim for the sky," Hiccup said before he turned back to Toothless. He and the dragon were soon soaring through the air. It wasn't much longer before snowballs were being hurdled in every direction. Some were blasted into water vapor by Toothless in the air, some were smashed against trees as arrows zoomed through their centers, and some were sliced in half with golden strands of her now unbraided hair like whips.

Jack grinned as an idea came to mind. Forming another snowball, he blew heavily on it, infusing it with ice. He laughed as he chucked it at Hiccup. Toothless got ready to incinerate it, but he came up to close and it hit the dragon on the side of his face and his ear. He shook off the cold ice, stunned, then growled and dived down to Jack. Jack was whistling nonchalantly, throwing a handful of small snowballs towards Punz when Toothless's nose pushed into his side, knocking him over. The Night Fury was glaring at him. He said with mocking innocence, "What? I'm only doing my job, how was I supposed to know you would fly into your target?" Hiccup sighed, shaking his head before they leapt into the sky again. Meanwhile Merida retrieved the arrows she could reach from the trees around her. She bounced up, trying to reach one just above her arm's reach. Jack laughed and glided over, plucking it from the trunk and twirling it between his fingers. "Lose something, princess?"

"Aye, Frost, give it back!" she said irritably. He looked at her and over the arrow for a moment before deciding.

"Nah, I think I'll keep it. Think of it as a gift… from me, to me," he laughed before he glided away, tossing a few more snowballs towards Toothless and Rapunzel. As he formed another, a silver glint caught his eye just before an arrow stole the snowball from his hand. "Hey!" he yelled crossly.

Merida giggled, "Think of it as payback." Then she stuck her tongue out at him. Jack returned the gesture, but after a moment he smirked at her.

"Alright, that one was good, I've gotta admit." He landed on the soft grass of the clearing littered with scattered melting snowflakes. "Mind if I take a few minutes?" he asked no one in particular. Hiccup, who was hovering low near the other three with Toothless nodded with Merida while Rapunzel shrugged.

Jack smiled and floated up above the ground just around six feet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he opened his eyes, he jabbed his staff forward and grunted loudly, willing his inner strength to pour into its power. Shimmering bolts of snowy crystals and frost emitted from the crook, plating the trees in ice as loud cracks implied trunks snapping before toppling over backwards. He looked from his staff to the trees to the others standing below and behind him in the clearing. "Did you guys see that?!" he asked elatedly.

"No, not at all," Hiccup replied sarcastically with a smirk, his arms folded.

Merida threw her hands up. "Jack, that was _amazing_!" she insisted. Rapunzel laughed excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Jack drifted towards the ground, staring at the hand holding his staff in surprise. He looked back up to the fallen trunks before him.

"I think we're ready," Hiccup stated confidently. He looked up at the sun. "And it's barely lunch time." The four friends smiled at each other, finally having the upper hand. They went through the plan again for a few times while eating the lunch they'd brought with them in Toothless's saddle pack, solving little bugs and errors here and there. They went over strategies to attack as a team, as well. Deciding on a choice few they wanted to rehearse, they finished lunch and stood in formation.

Jack lay on the ground behind them as he would be asleep at that time. The others sat somewhat close, but sat idly, waiting for a moment before striking. They pretended to wake Jack and he got up as they took their stances. Hiccup stood with Toothless behind him, growling. Merida had her thin bow raised and loaded. Rapunzel clung to two thin locks of her hair. Jack was hunching over his staff as teal frost patterns coated it. All four stood in a diamond shape around the dummy. Their "dummy" was just the lunch sacks filled with leaves piled on top of each other. Rapunzel flicked her hair out towards it, tightening around its "throat" while Merida unloaded an arrow into its belly. Hiccup signaled Toothless to spit a fire ball at it, leaving it in a smoldering pile of ashes. Jack finished up the job by freezing the remains. They went over this again a few times, using just a pile of leaves and the growing glacier of ashes as the dummy from then on, until the sky began blossoming with pink, gold, and violet clouds.

"Let's go," Rapunzel said determinedly. Since Pitch had first appeared to them in a glade in the valley, they thought it would be poetic justice to defeat him in the same space. They wandered east towards the clearing Rapunzel had first been attacked by him, ready for his attack this time. Once they arrived, they had purposeless conversation for a while, passing time for about an hour before Jack waved to them and said he was going to go to sleep. They waved off to him and got in formation. The sound of little ice crystals moving against each other emitted from Jack, probably because when he was in such a relaxed state his body could focus much more on his power. The other three snuck glances at each other as they went about their tasks. Hiccup was tending to the artificial half of Toothless's tail while Merida examined a small cloth tapestry she had made with her mother for her to always keep with her. Rapunzel, as expected, read a delightful book about a clan of ancient people who worshipped animals and a young girl who was very different who came and changed everything for their society. Dark laughter resonated between the trees.

"Right on time, bad guy," Hiccup muttered to himself as he looked around. He barely had time to duck as a galloping, roaring nightmare soared towards his face. All three took their positions swiftly. Merida bent over to wake Jack, only to see that he was gone.

"Jack's gone!" she exclaimed.

"What?!" Hiccup asked rhetorically in shock.

Pitch's voice called from all around them. "That's right; he is, in fact, gone. Oh, this is just like what happened to you, Rapunzel!" He sounded like he was grinning. Merida's bow darted this way and that as she tried to pinpoint the source. "I'm over here, my lady." The sound stopped echoing around them and came from one spot, directly behind her. Just as she whirled around, he grabbed her slim bow and snapped it in half over his knee like he'd done before with Jack's weapon. Merida screamed at him and threw a punch at his chest, hitting him near his seemingly nonexistent heart. He pushed her away, shoving the broken bow with her. A golden switch of hair wrapped around his wrist and yanked fiercely. He stumbled, but didn't fall. Rapunzel kept tugging until her face was barely an inch from Pitch's.

"What did you do with Jack?" she growled through her teeth. Toothless and Hiccup shared similar expressions while standing behind him.

It took him a moment, but soon enough Pitch Black had a calm and yet agitating response, "Nothing… yet." He chuckled and grabbed her hair with his free hand and pulled hard. Wincing, she knelt as her head got drawn farther down towards the grass. As her back and shoulders heaved with a silent sob of pain, Hiccup charged. He swung a sword from the DunBroch castle en route for Pitch's spine. He turned just in time for Hiccup only to end up cutting the small cluster of strands still clinging to Pitch's wrist, completely freeing him. He swung again and again furiously. Pitch only glided back, forth, right and left, dodging his unfocused assault. They neared the edge of the clearing. Behind Hiccup, Merida was comforting Rapunzel and helping ease her pain. It wasn't long before the guys reached the double-trunked aspen tree and Pitch faded into the shadows.

The blade of Hiccup's sword dropped to the ground and he cursed very loudly.


	7. Chapter 6

"Jack!" Merida yelled again, pushing aside leaves and twigs in her way. She heard Rapunzel holler from far on her right in the forest. Merida called for Jack again. Hiccup's voice came from the sky, yelling the same name as they were. They'd begun searching for Jack moments after Pitch disappeared. Rapunzel yelled his name again. Toothless's shadow passed over Merida as he turned another direction, still looking for their friend. The sun had set completely now, and darkness was all around them in the forest. Merida opened her mouth to call again before she felt as though the earth vanished from under her and she fell into the shadows. "Help!" she screamed before her bright head of hair disappeared.

Toothless turned his head to the shriek. Hiccup urged him and he dived down towards it. He got as low as he could before Hiccup dropped off his back into a narrow gap between trees. "Merida?! Rapunzel?!" he couldn't tell which one had cried. He darted back and forth in the small area before a rustling startled him and he turned to see Rapunzel looking terrified. "You heard her, too," he said quietly. It was more of a statement than a question, like that proved that it was real. That Merida was gone just like Jack.

"Hiccup, what are we going to do?" her voice strained, tears welled in her eyes but did not fall. She had her hair pulled in front of her, holding it close to her body nervously.

"I- I don't know…" his voice cracked as well while he looked down. "Come on, we should find Angus and Max." He took a deep breath as he returned his gaze to Rapunzel. "Make sure they're safe." She sniffled and nodded. He started walking, and she grabbed his arm just above the elbow. She didn't want to lose another friend. Though Hiccup wouldn't admit it, he was grateful for her touch. It comforted him when the darkness pulsated all around them.

They emerged from the thick carpet of trees back at the clearing where the horses and dragon waited. Angus was pacing and had clearly recognized something was wrong. Max grazing and Toothless searched for any sign of Hiccup. When he saw them, he darted up to the human like a cat. He pressed his head and nose against Hiccup's chest and the boy hugged him close. "It's okay buddy, everything's gonna be okay." Toothless opened his eyes and turned his head towards Angus, who was walking to them.

Rapunzel petted his nose softly and answered his distressed neigh. "I'm sorry, boy, we couldn't find her." His head hang low and he turned away from them. Max looked from Angus to Rapunzel, confused, but didn't make a fuss. Rapunzel sat in the grass, her shoulders slumped and a sigh emitting from her chest. Hiccup knelt next to her and put his hand on hers.

"We will find them, Rapunzel," he whispered in the dark.

Her eyes moved to his face before she replied simply and softly. "I hope so."

They sat there in silence for a while; at some point Toothless inched up behind them and snuggle his side against their backs. Rapunzel was started humming something to herself moments ago but was asleep now. Hiccup sat awake staring at the stars, wondering what he could do now. He turned to Toothless and lay on his side facing his pal. The dragon's eyes were closed and his nostrils flared out with every breath he took. This felt like the time Toothess had been drowning on his dad's ship as it sunk. He'd felt panicked and scared for his best friend, but he'd actually been able to do something. Here, he could do nothing but sit and think. This surely felt worse. "I'll figure something out," he muttered.

Suddenly, he felt as though he was falling, dropping through the air towards the ground. He sat up and scrambled from the dark blotch opening up below him. Hiccup panted, terrified that what happened to Jack and Merida may happen to him. He managed to clamber to his feet and turn to run. Just as he reached the edge of the clearing, he froze. Rapunzel. He whirled around and raced towards her, only to see the darkness consume her completely as she dropped into the abyss. "No!" he yelled and dived, his arms outstretched in an attempt to reach her. He sank down into the pit after her until there was nothing but darkness all around him.

* * *

Jack lay still for a moment before he opened his eyes. He was somewhere fairly dark with only faint beams of light from above cast shadows everywhere. The stone floor below him was cold, but he didn't like it. It didn't feel like the refreshing kind of cold or the kind he would bring; it felt like death. Shuddering, he stood up, looking around him. He spotted his staff a few feet away from him on the floor. He stepped over and grabbed it quickly. He felt safer and stronger with his shepherd's crook. He took in his surroundings again to see these stone pathways, staircases, and bridges crisscrossing all throughout the underground expanse. His icy blue eyes widened in realization. He remembered this place; this was Pitch's home. Jack needed to find a way out of here and back to Scotland and his friends. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be easy. Pitch's cavern was like an enormous labyrinth, nearly impossible to navigate.

He walked to his left instinctively, and leaned his staff on his shoulder while stuffing his right hand in his hoodie pocket. It was very quiet here, which was strange. Wouldn't Pitch have started antagonizing him already? He saw a flight of stairs nearby on his right side, and some sort of shape laying on them. His brow furrowed, he floated over to the stairs and circled around the shape, unable to see it very well in the dim light. It was then that the shape groaned and rolled onto its back.

"Hiccup, what are you doing here?!" Jack asked in a panic. Hiccup peeked at him through nearly closed eyelids.

"How am I supposed to know?" He sat up and rubbed his back, looking around. "Jack, where are we?"

Jack hesitated, he didn't want to scare Hiccup, but at this point they were both probably going to end up afraid anyways. "This is where Pitch lives." He looked around and added sarcastically, "Really gives you that homey feeling, doesn't it?" He offered his hand and helped Hiccup stand up.

"So how are we gonna get out of here?" he asked Jack, looking up around at the tangle of the hollow. Jack just shrugged and gestured towards a random path with his open palm. Hiccup shrugged, too, and they walked along, looking around them at the web of trails. Eventually, the path they walked on became a stairway spiraling somewhat upwards and to the left. They went up it and Jack finally asked what he'd been trying to figure out since he found Hiccup.

"So how did you get here, Hic?"

Hiccup felt nervous, Jack was acting fairly laid back right now, and he didn't want to worry him. He tried to avoid the question by just walking alongside him in silence, but that didn't work out, he kept getting expectant glances from Jack. Sighing, he explained how he'd tried to catch Rapunzel before she'd fallen into the darkness, but he'd failed and ended up here like the others probably did. Jack halted mid-step.

"We have to find her." He then realized that if three of them were here… "Hiccup, was Merida with you and Rapunzel when you two fell in?" Hiccup looked away, his face fallen. Jack's mouth hung open in shock and he flew up the staircase as quickly as possible. "Merida!" he called from the top of the steps into the chasm. "Rapunzel!" His eyes searched the maze below, above, and around him for golden blonde or scarlet hair in the grayness. He heard a voice.

"Jack!" It was a girl's voice, that much was certain. It sounded young, though, very young. It sounded like it came from very far below him, although it echoed throughout the walls. He dove down, forgetting about Hiccup, who arrived at the top of the stairs just in time to see the Guardian falling down through the bridges and corridors.

"Oh don't mind me, I'll just go _all _the way back down on foot," he said cynically, throwing his arms up halfheartedly. Hiccup sighed and turned around, starting back down the stairs in disappointment. Meanwhile, Jack touched down at the floor of the cavernous abode of Pitch Black. The voice rang out again, saying his name, however more softly this time. It came from behind him.

He turned slowly to see a little girl, only around eight or nine years old, sitting on the stone floor, staring at her brown boots. She had rusty brown hair brushing her shoulders and big tawny eyes. The girl wore a chocolate colored dress with a crimson belt and a red and white pattern along the bottom. Jack frowned as he froze in place.

"No," he whispered. She looked up at him, and her face lit up with a smile. She said his name again, she sounded happy, too. Jack's hand shook as he held it out, as if to hold her away. He took an unsteady half step backwards. "No, you aren't; you can't be…" his voice trailed off in denial of what he was seeing.

"Jack, I've missed you!" She hopped to her feet and started towards him, her arms outstretched. Jack held his staff up defensively and moved away from her. "Come here!" she called again excitedly. He just shook his head, unable to respond as he back onto a steep straight stairwell. Her expression changed. She looked angry. Her gaze narrowed and she frowned. She blinked and it was as though a pen had bled into her eyes. They were a shiny black, and seemed as hollow as her voice then sounded. "Jack, didn't you miss me?" He shuddered and moved up and backwards a few steps. She started screaming her question at him, over and over. It rang in his ear, even when her mouth stopped moving. The voice distorted into a shrill high pitched wail and yet a low snarl at the same time. It made his head pulse and throb, especially where he had been cut by the nightmare sand. He groaned in pain. It went on endlessly. He couldn't tell how much time had passed. Was it a minute? Or was it an hour? He clutched his head, trying to block out the voices. He gasped very high pitched in agony again; it was too much.

She reached her hand out to him one last time, black veins lacing under the pale skin, and smiled at him. "If you come with me, Jack, I can make it stop. Just take my hand." Her mouth moved this time. With tears nearly rising in his eyes, he looked back to the little girl who was so much like his sister. He looked down to her hand, then back to her empty eyes. "I promise, Jack." The pain and voices still howled in his mind. His hand, shaking violently drifted down from his head, reaching outwards. It would stop, he would be okay, she would stop the pain, she would end the voices. His fingertips brushed hers.

Abruptly, a figure appeared by him and swatted his hand away from her. A voice, thick with accent, was yelling at the little girl. His vision blurred and his hand relaxed. As the blur intensified, the voices and pain became muffled and distant. The smear over his vision intensified so much that everything became grey. Then, it just disappeared. The ringing and pain ended, and he could see. Blinking away his tears from earlier, he looked to the little girl. She was gone. A hand turned his head, and he saw Merida. He smiled. Jack's head became buried in frizzy hair as she hugged him tightly. "You saved me… thank you."


	8. Chapter 7

Rapunzel awoke as she fell through the air. She didn't fall long, though, soon she landed on smooth stone. Sitting up sideways, she rubbed her now bruised hip and looked around. She had no idea where she was, but she didn't think it was a very good place to be. The unnatural angles and shapes of the stairs and bridges were too uncanny for here to be any place good. She stood up awkwardly, gained her balance and looked around. How did she get here? Is this what happened to Jack and Merida, too? If it was, then that meant they must have been here somewhere! She tried looking for them, stretching on her tiptoes, but it was very dark and difficult to see. She gnawed on her finger in thought. Suddenly, though, a warm glow began to shine nearby.

She turned towards it. A bodiless light, glowing golden white flickered, drifting slowly towards the ground. She watched in awe, approaching it slowly, her green eyes wide with wonder. More emerged in the darkness, all around her, lighting up the space and filling everything with warmth. She poked one and it emitted a faint sigh. She giggled and prodded it again. Another sigh. Just before each light would hit the ground, they would snuff out like a swiftly dying flame. More kept appearing around her, each one a different color. She was surrounded in warmth and light and rainbows, and Rapunzel loved it.

Lifting her arms high, she began to dance to a soundless song in her head, humming it as she bounced around the floor, her hair a swirling trail around her. Suddenly, the lights all vanished. She was plunged into total blackness. She gasped and jumped back as one of the lights abruptly appeared directly in front of her at eye level. She regarded it cautiously, circling it and observing its gentle flicker. Gently raising her right hand to touch it, she stared in astonishment and confusion. Her fingers made contact and brushed it. It felt… cool. It swiftly began to grow larger and brighter, almost blinding her. She had to shut her eyes to avoid burning them. Her arm in contact with the light began to feel weighted. When the light faded back to the size of a wisp, she looked back, only to find a thick metal cuff around her wrist.

She gasped and pulled at her hand. It didn't work. A chain of pure light bound her to the orb; although, at a closer look, she saw the chain emitted a smoky darkness all around it. Unaware of her surroundings as she was distracted by the cuff, she did not notice the clank of the second one closing around her left wrist until it was too late. She turned with a short gasp to see it, only to find a woman with black, wavy hair in a crimson gown and a dark grey cloak peering at her past a dagger in her hand. "Oh Rapunzel, didn't I tell you? Mother knows best." The dame's eyes widened in fear and she tried to scramble away from her, only managing to escape a few inches, due to the shortness of the chains. They pulled her to the ground, pinning her on her back.

"Let me go!" she huffed furiously. The woman, Gothel, grinned and lowered the blade.

"Oh, Rapunzel, now why would I want to do that?" she chuckled.

* * *

Hiccup finally reached the ground floor of the abyss. As soon as Jack's groans had reverberated loudly up to him, he had rushed as well as he could with his prosthetic leg to the Guardian. He then saw Merida on her knees and through her mane of hair he could barely see Jack, but noticed she had him in a snug embrace. While catching his breath, he smiled. After a moment of rest, he approached them and rested on one knee in front of them. Merida saw him over Jack's shoulder. "Is he okay?" he mouthed silently, pointing to the teen held in her arms. She nodded softly and slowly pulled away from him. Jack sighed and looked up, spotting Hiccup.

"Did either of you… did you see any of that?" he asked sheepishly. Hiccup shook his head quickly.

"I saw part of it. Where that girl promised to help you, and when…" her voice trailed off. Jack nodded in understanding while taking a deep breath. He stood up and picked his staff up from the stairs.

"We need to find Rapunzel," Jack pressed in a no-nonsense tone. Merida nodded and stood in front of him, then offered a hopeful glance at Hiccup. He dipped his head once in response and they walked. It didn't take long, as her hair left a noticeable trail. Merida started running first, with Jack and Hiccup in tow. Hiccup had gotten surprisingly used to his false leg, which was obviously with his running. He wasn't, however very good at stopping with it, which became evident when he crashed into Jack as he stood still. Merida looked terrified beside them. The guys ceased their struggle when the saw what she had noticed.

"Oh God," Hiccup whispered. Rapunzel lay bent backwards on the floor with her feet tucked under her. Chains pinned her to the stone ground and a dark haired woman in a maroon dress sat hunched over her, holding a gleaming dagger inches from her face. Rapunzel heaved with a sob and closed her eyes, turning her head away. Gothel only pushed her head back and forced her eyes open. She rested the tip of the dagger on the girl's eyebrow.

"Oh, please Rapunzel, stop being so dramatic! Otherwise I may have to cut out your tongue, too. You wouldn't want that." Rapunzel's eyes widened and she shook her head in panic. "That's what I thought. Now if you just relax we can get this over with. You won't need these; you'll be safe in the tower with me anyways." Suddenly, Hiccup understood what Mother Gothel meant.

"No!" he cried out, coming to his senses. He rushed out at the woman and kicked her in the face with his metal foot. She shouted and fell back with pain, dissipating into sand and slinking into the crevices in the rock. Rapunzel's chains faded away, too. "Rapunzel? Rapunzel," Hiccup repeated, trying to get through to her in her state of shock. He pulled her up into his arms and held her close to his ear to see if she was breathing. She was. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hic, let me try something," Jack suggested softly. Hiccup backed away and allowed Jack some room. The tallest point of his staff, the peak of the crook, tapped Rapunzel on her nose gently. It turned red from the cold and she squinted at him. He grinned and almost did it again, but her hand pushed the staff from her face and she slowly pulled herself to a sitting position.

"It's official; I never want to see her again," she said finally. Merida laughed lightly and offered her hand to help Punz up. Gladly, she took it. Finally, the four had all reunited, and there'd only been two living nightmares. Maybe now they could plan an escape.


	9. Chapter 8

Jack's eyes lit up as he realized the perfect plan. The four had been sitting together for a while now plotting ways to escape Pitch's lair. Unfortunately, very few seemed reasonable for a handful of misfit teenagers. Jack butted into Merida's statement as she tried to say something about how difficult it might be to make it through the maze.

"We need to make him mad!" The others, especially Hiccup, looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Actually, Merida just looked mad. She pinched him on the neck as he began to continue. "Ow! Cut it out. Anyways, last time I was here, I was somehow teleported to Bunnymund's Warren as I confronted Pitch. We need to recreate that moment."

"Unless someone happens to have one of North's snowglobes," Rapunzel suggested. Merida couldn't tell she was serious, and Hiccup just shook his head. Apparently no snowglobes were available at the time.

"It'll work, I promise," Jack said with his contagious smile when he had an idea. After a few moments hesitation, the others agreed. "Now… how are we going to do that?"

Merida suddenly stood up, her dark green dress snagging at the knee. "Hey, you bumbling idiot!" Hiccup's lips pursed and he eyed the others in surprise and worry. Merida continued arrogantly, "Too scared of a few teenagers, aren't you, ya wee boy. That's what you are, just a boy!"

Jack held his hopeful fist close to him, silently cheering the Scottish redhead on. Rapunzel and Hiccup clung to each other nervously. As expected, a hollow chortle rebounded throughout the halls as the darkness thickened around them. A shadow of Pitch formed on the wall next to Merida.

"Is that all I am? Dear girl, you haven't the slightest idea," they heard as black sand glittered around them. Jack hopped lightly to his feet, holding his staff defensively. Rapunzel and Hiccup stood, too, but much more warily, staring at the swirling whirlpool of nightmares entrapping them. Rapunzel's hand snaked cautiously down to grip a thick lock of her long golden hair.

"She knows more than you think, Pitch," Jack defended, the temperature dropping down to almost forty degrees because of his emotions. The others shivered a bit, but held their ground.

"Does she, Jack?" he countered. Everyone suddenly became very confused. Of course Merida knew; they all did. What was Pitch playing at? "Do your dear _friends_ know about how you allowed Easter to be ruined; about how you abandoned the Guardians in their time of most need? All for a little box of baby teeth." Merida turned around to Jack and pulled him around by his shoulder. He saw all three of his friends looking at him expectantly.

Rapunzel held her hands closed against her collarbone. "Is… is it true?"

Jack inhaled sharply, his eyebrows dropped ashamedly and his eyes gleaming with regret. "I…" he tried to respond, but didn't understand how. What could he say to make the situation not seem as wrong? He could think of nothing. He looked away from his friends.

Merida's face scrunched up angrily and she pushed him away from her and the others. Rapunzel watched silently, afraid to worsen the situation and feeling disappointed. Hiccup seemed to be the only one focused on Pitch and his swirling nightmare sand, still.

"Oh, Jack, I'm sorry. Did they not know?" Pitch seemed to tease in mock pity. He personified by the winter spirit's side. "I guess not; so much for that, then." Jack rapidly felt very angry. The Boogeyman was ruining his life a second time, and he knew it already. Jack's staff practically glowed with blue power at his grip.

"Leave my friend's alone!" he yelled. Ice and frost erupted from his staff all around him, darting upwards, and then circling around towards Pitch Black. He collapsed into the shadows before the shards made contact. "Not this time, you stupid-" his words were cut short as a golden rope whipped around his torso and brought him crashing down to the floor and being dragged swiftly across it. He looked up to Rapunzel, whom was holding the hair, and before he was able to ask, she pointed behind him. He saw a wave of sharp nightmare sand reforming with the tornado. He promised to thank her later.

Soon, Jack got up, her hair falling from his waist, and pulled Merida and Hiccup by the back of their collars towards Rapunzel. She understood his plan and tied the three of them up in her hair securely. He inhaled deeply and let out a cry of power as ice and frost surged around him, solidifying walls of the black diamond sand around them in a terrifyingly beautiful spiral. He took hold of the loop Rapunzel had formed for his hand and called on the wind. It coursed through the hall powerfully, lifting them up and away from Pitch's dark power. Eventually, it carried them to the top of the cavernous den up to the small hole that had once resided under a broken bed frame. He pushed his friends through first before being shot out himself. The weakness suddenly overtook him and he collapsed on the warm dirt of Burgess. He wasn't done yet, though. Jack still needed to get his friends home.

With a heaving sigh, he tried to get everyone back into the air, but could not seem to muster the strength to. It seemed as though someone had tried to spin a cloth but ran out of thread halfway through the process.

After a few moments of squirming and struggling, Hiccup managed to worm out of Rapunzel's now somewhat tangled hair. He approached Jack watchfully, unsure of his condition. When he noticed his friend's glazed expression and lack of movement, he assumed he was at least physically okay. Now he had to figure out how to get Toothless all the way here. Coincidentally, though, the black Night Fury happened to have already found them.

"Hey boy," he mused, petting the dragon's nose for a moment. He turned back to his friends and encouraged them to board the saddle. Jack stumbled and fell on his way and a reluctant Rapunzel stepped around him. Merida gripped his arm tightly and dragged him on the ground towards the beast before climbing atop Toothless' back. Soon enough, Jack managed to pull himself up, also. Hiccup guided his pet back towards Merida's home in Scotland.

* * *

In the next few days that passed it seemed that every moment was tense with anger and pain. No one had forgotten what Pitch had revealed in Burgess. Jack had begun to isolate himself from the others, noticing that they seemed happier when he was gone. Although it was lonely, he felt guilty. He didn't want to hurt them anymore than he seemed to have. None of the others really minded, though Rapunzel and Hiccup often exchanged glances when Merida's frustration was evident. She seemed to be taking this worse than any of the others. So much so that she hadn't spoken of or to Jack since they had returned to the DunBroch castle.

Hiccup caught up with her on her way towards the stables after she'd stormed away from the table at his hint of Jack's self-quarantine. "Look, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up," he said, his metallic prosthesis clinking together with his hastened steps.

Merida grunted and refused to look at him. Hiccup reached out to touch her shoulder, but she swatted his hand away before boarding her huge black horse and galloping off into the forest. Hiccup sighed theatrically. Merida was not one to drop a grudge easily. He turned back towards the castle Hiand walked towards Rapunzel's room. He pushed the cracked door ajar to see Rapunzel handing from the rafters by her hair, dressed in a blue smock spattered with paint as she brushed a vivid green onto the wall.

She turned around at the scrape or the door hardware and spotted her short friend. "Hi," she said cheerfully before turning back to her work in progress. "What's up?"

"Well, uh, I was thinking you might wanna stop by and check on Jack. I haven't seen him in I think two days," he offered nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Rapunzel's hand froze in the middle of another emerald stroke of the brush. She stuttered, "Uh, um, hold on." She took a couple moments to finish painting the rolling hills and stooping valleys of her landscape before speaking again. "Yeah, I guess we could visit him." She wiped her wet green fingers on her smock before swinging down to the floor from her supports of hair. She set the brush in a cup of water and approached Hiccup, smiling. "Let's go, then," she said with a relieving sigh. It would be nice to talk to him again. Honestly, neither of them felt like the group was complete without Jack. Hiccup just seemed to be playing crutch for Merida whereas Rapunzel didn't want to be a part of the rigidity at all.

They arrived at Jack's room after a slow walk of hesitancy. Rapunzel opened the door and saw Jack sitting cross-legged on his bed, teasing a small frost bunny half-heartedly. A little stab of guilt shot through his friends' hearts as they watched from the door. They crept in awkwardly and Rapunzel sat on the edge of his bed.

"Hey, there," Hiccup said as he leaned on the wall by the others. Jack lifted his eyes towards him, only to lower them back towards his now empty hands and he rotated himself away from them both.

"Oh come on, Jack, you've been cooped up in here for days now!" Rapunzel pleaded. She reached her hand out towards his shoulder only to stop inches from him as he responded to her.

"I shouldn't be _here_ at all!"

Her voice changed to a higher, breathier pitch. "Jack, please!"

Hiccup sat on the bed and scooted up to Jack's other side. "It's been really hot outside," he hinted with hope.

Rapunzel, catching on, added with a wistful sigh, "If only it was cool outside again so that everyone could have some fun." She eyed him encouragingly.

"Ugh…" Jack grunted. "Fine, what do you two want?" he inquired dismally as he spun around to face them. Rapunzel and Hiccup grinned at him. They pulled him off his bed by the hood and cheered him down the stairs. When they finally got outside, Jack pulled his arms from their grasp. "Well, I'll admit, you were right. It is hot out here." Hiccup and Rapunzel exchanged somewhat confused expressions with Jack before he added slyly, "Or is that just because I'm here?" Hiccup grinned and shot his fist into the air as a gesture of success and Rapunzel laughed happily.

They spent the next few hours wandering around the forest playing Hide-And-Seek. Yes, they knew it was a child's game, but honestly, they couldn't care less; they did what pleased them. By the time the sun singed their skin, except Jack's, they'd been outside for hours. Rapunzel and Toothless here now both hiding from each other, unaware that neither were "it" and Jack bit his lip to avoid his quaking laughter. Hiccup was the one _actually _"it" in this round, but seemed to have lost track of the others. Jack was actually following him in secret from the treetops after a while, and would use false hints of movement to steer him away from Rapunzel. Abruptly, though, Jack lost track of Hiccup entirely.

He darted from bow to bow in the pine trees. He found Hiccup finally when he spotted him squatting by something glittering. He dropped down in front of his friend in a crouch. Hiccup shouted and fell backwards in surprise.

"Don't do that!" he said accusingly after he regained his self-control. Jack rolled his eyes and poked the glinting object with the butt end of his staff. It made a loud clank as the two metallic stones suddenly pulled together in a vise-like grip.

"Whoa!" the Winter Spirit marveled. He picked up the two linked stones to look at them more closely. They were between a black and a gray color and shone like ice. He pulled them apart again, despite the slight resistance, and set them in his palm. Again they clacked together.

"This is awesome!" Hiccup admired. They decided to show the others, so Jack led Hic to Rapunzel. She was curled up in a cocoon of her hair hiding between the branches of the pines. "Found you," he spoke proudly, his hands in fists on him hips in a heroic stance. She laughed and slipped down to the ground of the forest.

"Oh, fine," she said with false pout. Jack laughed and proceeded to pull the amazing stones from his hoodie pocket. He demonstrated their pull on each other a few times before Rapunzel snatched them up with wonder, pulling them apart herself.

"They're called magnets," Jack explained informatively. The others didn't know much about science.

Well, besides Hiccup, who now commented, "Oh, I know what you're talking about! See, I figured out about the attraction between certain metals and rocks when I was working on Toothless' tail. Berk uses it in a few new weapons I designed. But, now that we don't fight dragons, I have absolutely _no idea _what they need a blade for…" He continued to speak, gradually flowing somewhat into a rant before Rapunzel spoke up.

"Jack, you should show these to Merida! Maybe it'll help you two make up!" her face looked lit up with hope for their friendship, and Hiccup sprouted a smile to support her idea. Jack appreciated it immensely. It was nice to have people believe in you. After a few moments of contemplation, he agreed.

"Let's go."

* * *

They found Merida at the archery range, training with her new bow. It was made of light birch wood and had a thick drawstring. She'd asked it to be made a couple days after they had returned from Pitch's lair, and was barely beginning to feel accustomed to the weapon. She pulled another arrow back and took a deep breath.

"Hey, Merida!" Hiccup yelled. She released the bow in surprise and the arrow shot skew into the dirt.

She sighed with exasperation, "What the devil, Hic?" He grinned and Rapunzel followed behind him with a similar smile.

"Jack wants to show you something," he said encouragingly.

Merida gaped at him with confusion. "Jack?" she said, her voice dripping with lack of understanding.

"Here we go," Jack said with frustration. Of course, now Merida was going to play dumb, just to get back at him. She just stood there looking from Hiccup to Punzie warily.

"Yeah, y'know, Jack Frost?" Hiccup said sarcastically.

She stared at him. "Hic, I think you've lost a wee bit of yer head!" Her rich accent seemed especially stressed today. Jack's face had begun to crumple together in concern. Was she joking?

Rapunzel sighed and brushed her hand through the hair on her scalp. "Look, Mer, I know you're mad at him, but you would feel better if you just let it go," she spoke with a pleading look filling her vast green eyes like liquid in a big emerald bottle. Jack felt grateful for Rapunzel's reasoning in this situation, since Merida likely wouldn't have listened to him.

Oddly, enough, though, her face only seemed further baffled. Jack suddenly realized, with his eyes wide and he gasped. No, this couldn't happen. His chest felt as though he'd been ripped open and he clutched tightly at his staff. He turned away as he pulled his blue hood over his ruffled white hair. Everyone but Merida turned after him.

"Jack…?" Rapunzel said with anxiety.

His head hung low under his hood. "I know why Merida's acting like this." Hiccup's eyes sprung wide as he, too, understood. "She doesn't believe anymore."


	10. Chapter 9

"Jack, wait!" Rapunzel called after him. After he'd recovered from the shock of Merida's newfound disbelief, he'd shot up into the sky without looking back. Hiccup was talking to Merida in a low, hushed voice, while Rapunzel had tried to comfort Jack. It seems that didn't turn out for the best. Hiccup turned away from Merida at Rapunzel's shout and saw Jack disappearing into the clouds. He cursed silently before turning back to the DunBroch.

"You're serious? You have _no idea _who Jack is? Who we were just talking to?" he strained his syllables, as if saying them like that would make them untrue. His hand shook slightly with unease as he gestured his words. Merida shook her head sharply, raging curls shaking around like tangled streamers. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Turning to Rapunzel, he asked with tension, "Well now what? Jack's run off and Merida doesn't know he exists."

Rapunzel shrugged sadly and spoke with melancholy, "Let's just go home." Hiccup silently agreed and the three of them returned to the cobblestone brick castle. Merida followed them apprehensively as they trudged towards the fortress, unaware of her once-dear friend whom had disappeared into the sky. Along the way, she remained silent as Hiccup and Rapunzel discussed ideas of how to help Jack. Merida suddenly felt by the concerned looks on her friends' faces that she had done something seriously wrong. She tucked her arms close to her chest, as if trying to hold herself together.

* * *

Jack didn't care where the wind was taking him; he just wanted to get away. His chest felt empty and hollow, and it seemed he could not escape his thoughts. Merida didn't believe in him anymore. He'd caused her to hate him so much that she'd quite literally lost her faith in him. He felt very much alone. The wind tried to comfort him by wafting him gently, trying to swaddle him like a baby, but he refused its every effort. Eventually, it became frustrated with his rejection and dropped him off.

The first thing he was aware of was that it was cold. Good, at least it didn't want to harm him. He opened his shut eyelids and saw white in every direction; above, below, and around him. He must have been at one of the poles. With no way back and no reason to return, he lay back in the frozen snow of the tundra and let the raging storm bury him in hard white.

Hiccup and Rapunzel sat at the large dining table with Merida and her family as dark fell over Scotland, their bowls of pork stew untouched and cold. Jack had been gone for hours now and there had been no sign of him. They couldn't help but feel angry at Merida, it was her fault he'd run off in the first place. She couldn't learn to forgive Jack and so she had stopped believing in him. He didn't exist to her at all anymore.

* * *

Rapunzel's spoon twirled idly between her fingers against the table while her head rested in the palm of her other hand. Hiccup sat very straight with his arms by his sides as he stared at the bobbing chunks of meat and vegetables in the thick auburn broth. "I, uh, I think I'm gonna go check on Toothless, so I'll just see you guys later," he said nervously. Rapunzel's head shot up and she asked to go with him. He shrugged in response and she tagged along, Pascal perched on her shoulder.

When they made it outside, a cool breeze made Rapunzel shiver as goosebumps rose on her skin. Hiccup was wearing his fur vest over his long sleeved shirt, though, and so was not chilled by the crisp evening air.

"So, any ideas?" Hiccup said with a heavy sigh as he leaned against the stable wall. Toothless was low to the ground as he nudged Hic's leg consolingly. Hiccup slid to the ground and stokes the dragon's head on impulse. Rapunzel's eyes looked down towards her feet as she kneeled in the grass across from him.

"We could try and make Merida believe again," she suggested. Hiccup shrugged. Even if they could convince her, Jack was still gone. Hiccup looked at her expectantly. "I don't know!" she said with a tone of frustration as she lowered her face into her hands. A low whine could be heard from Toothless before Hiccup spoke up.

"Hey, it's okay. We're trying," he tried to comfort her. He prodded Toothless with his elbow and nodded towards his golden haired friend. The Night Fury crawled from his covered area and curled up around Rapunzel. Looking up in surprise, she saw him smiling at her and he relaxed a bit.

"Hey, boy," she said quietly. She scratched him on his neck and he cooed with delight. They remained there for a while, just thinking. They sat in the evening darkness and tried to formulate a plan to fix things; to make them right.

* * *

Jack woke up to the smell of dental floss and cookies. His eyes opened to a mere squint at the bright light hanging from the ceiling. With a groan he sat up, rubbing his face with his hands. He looked around and saw that he was in an infirmary-type of room. The bed sheets were thin and white, and the bed frame was made of titanium bars. There were two others like it around the circular room, and the small cozy windows by each one gave it a feel of the 1800s. The walls were painted a deep blue with three red striped horizontally riding the center of the curved wall.

Jack's head throbbed with pain, but he ignored it and moved the sheets off of him. He stood up from the cot and took hold of his staff which rested against the wall next to him. Frost curled around it at his touch. The silence was unnerving, and he tried to distract himself by looking out the window. White fields of snow and ice rippled over the landscape and the sky was such a light gray he almost didn't see it. _So, still at one of the Poles,_ he thought. _Then that must mean I'm_- his thoughts were cut short as the door creaked open and the beating of wings sounded in the room.

"Jack, you're awake!" Tooth, the Guardian of Memories, marveled. Behind her, in came North, the Guardian of Wonder.

With a tone of confusion and a furrowed brow, Jack inquired, "How did I get here?"

North replied, "One of the Yetis found you while making snowcones and brought you inside."

"Wait, you don't just have a snowcone maker?" Jack laughed, and North chuckled with him. North's large, strong hand rested on the Guardian of Fun's shoulder and his tone changed to one of concern.

"Are you alright, Jack?"

"Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine!" he lied with false pleasantry, letting North's hand slip from his shoulder. "Just had a bit of a wrestle with the wind, that's all." He smiled, hoping to cover his pain as he reminisced why he'd run away. Tooth's face scrunched with a skew. Odd, she was a bit like Rapunzel in some ways.

"Jack, are you sure?" she asked, her wings slicing the air as she flitted closer to him. She reached a hand out but he pushed it away gently.

"Yeah, everything's great," he fibbed again, although not as convincingly as before. They continued to stare at him. He sighed and pinched his nose with frustration. "Fine. Nothing's great. Everything's going wrong." Tooth's mouth opened as if she were going to speak, but he cut her off. "The wind hates me, Pitch attacked us, and Merida doesn't believe in me!"

Tooth gasped, pulling a hand over her mouth in surprise. North's eyebrows curved downward with burdening realization. "Jack," he mumbled, his dark blue eyes pleading.

"Just leave me alone," the winter spirit demanded. His pain was evident in his eyes, and he felt embarrassed by the show of weakness.

Tooth finally said quietly, "Come on, North, let's go." Without another word, they left the room. North's heavy footsteps stopped by the door as he looked back at the boy, but Jack had turned away and was staring out the window. North left, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Hiccup sat next to Merida, a charcoal pencil grasped in his right hand. "Okay, let's try this again," he sighed. His idea to help Merida wasn't going to well. Maybe Rapunzel's would work better when she got around to it.

His hand traced out a 'G' shape atop a long line. "What's this?" he asked encouragingly.

"You've gone mad, Hic, really!" Merida still scoffed at his efforts. It was like not believing in Jack erased all memory of him from her, and was actually very frightening for the others to see. "Are you feelin' alright?" her thick accent strained high, as though she were on the verge of shouting. Her hand reached towards his forehead to check for a fever. Hiccup grabbed it gently by the wrist, however, and shooed it away.

"It's a staff, see?" he pointed to the long line of black charcoal. "And-and here's the crook, like what shepherds use in fields, y'know?" His voice picked up hopefully. Maybe this one would trigger something. Merida's face was scrunched up a she tried to connect with the staff. She could have sworn he was losing his mind! What was so special about a stick, anyways?

"I've got nothing," she gave up, leaning against her arm propped on the table. Hiccup grunted with frustration and flipped his sketchbook closed irritably. He left the table, rubbing his face with his hands. Merida didn't turn around; she could hear the gentle 'clank' as he paced slowly behind her. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but I don't understand what's wrong!"

He turned around sharply, almost yelling, which caused her to turn towards him in her chair. "Everything! Everything is wrong, Merida!" He choked a bit and continued more softly. "Jack is gone who knows where because you don't know he exists anymore, Pitch Black is still after us all, and Rapunzel and I were up all night with no sleep just so we could try and _help _you see him and we've already been at this for hours." His brows lowered towards his closing eyelids as he muttered quietly. "I don't know what to do anymore."

Merida watched him, a burning sensation rising in her cheeks and a lump building in her throat. When moist tears began to blur her vision, she lowered her head against the back of the chair. Gravity took hold of the tears and splattered them on her green dress, darkening its emerald color to almost black. "I'm sorry," she heaved.

Hiccup noticed her weeping and took his seat next to her again. "Me too," he mumbled while resting an arm on her shoulder. A wee pitter-patter like the movement of mice broke the near-silence of the room. He looked up to see Rapunzel peeking around the end of the stone stairs at him. He shrugged and shook his head. His idea hadn't worked at all. It just created more cracks in the foundation of their home.

* * *

Jack poured over yet another book in the North Pole's library. The collection of novels, biographies, documentaries, and all other types of literature was so extensive, Jack was sure Rapunzel would have loved to spend her tower days here instead. The walls were lined with thick, dark brown bookshelves. The literature was ordered by first genre, then topic, then alphabetically. Jack had chosen random books that looked promising from the section referring to the Guardians.

The first book had been written by some spirit he'd never heard of, but he ignored the name, making no note of it. Unfortunately, it had been of no use to him. All it did was tell the lore of Pitch ruling during the Dark Ages and Manny sending the Guardians. Nothing too important.

The second one was written by Sandy, and he had excellent calligraphy. The black strokes decorating the yellowed parchment explained in detail the lives, skills, and centers of every Guardian there had ever been. There were still a few blank pages at the end. Jack noticed his page was not yet completed. He made a note to ask Sandy later.

The third book, however, contained the information he believed to be looking for. He scoured the pages for any hint of how to restore belief in a person. Was it this one? No, that was about why children believe. What about that? Nope. It described what belief in one's power is to a child. Here? Close, but no cigar. It explained what happened to Guardians when they weren't believed in anymore. It was a disturbing section to read, but he forced himself to. He had to make things right.

There was nothing. He hadn't found a single word of use to him in the entire book, and if it wasn't in this one, why the hell would it be in the others? He cursed under his breath and shoved the books to the floor angrily. His nostrils flared as he breathed heavily, hunching over the desk.

"Now, that's no way to treat a work of art," bellowed a thick Russian accent. Jack didn't look at him. A warm, large hand rested on his back and he heard, "Jack, you must tell me what is going on. I would like to help you."

He shook his head, ruffling his hair, and replied hopelessly, "If these can't tell me how to fix what I screwed up, then how could you? You're just an old man." He would have regretted that last comment were he not so angry and hurt; North just laughed it off, though.

"I may be old, but I am good at seeing things. Big eyes, remember?" He walked around towards Jack's face. "And I can see that you are scared. I want to help." His bushy black eyebrows were set so strong in determination that the resonated with Jack more strongly than his oceanic eye color.

Jack sighed and closed his eyes. "Okay," he caved in, allowing for North's assistance. "What do I do?"


End file.
